1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to techniques for drying a medium to which a liquid has been applied.
2. Related Art
In past printing apparatuses, a technique is known in which ink is applied to a printing material wound in a roll shape while transporting that printing material (see JP-A-2012-76227, JP-A-2011-218678, and JP-A-2012-20548, for example). According to the techniques of JP-A-2012-76227, JP-A-2011-218678, and JP-A-2012-20548, a drying unit for drying the ink applied to the printing material is provided in order to prevent the ink applied to the printing material from adhering to other members in the printing apparatus (transport rollers, for example).
To dry ink in a printing apparatus, it is necessary to use such a drying unit to introduce, to the ink, an amount of heat sufficient to evaporate the moisture from the ink. Here, various types of printing materials having different heat resistances may be used in the printing apparatus. Various problems can therefore arise in the case where a temperature used by the drying unit for drying the ink is controlled to a set temperature. For example, in the case where the printing material used in the printing apparatus has a low heat resistance and the temperature of the drying unit has been controlled to a set temperature based on that printing material, that controlled drying temperature will be lower than a maximum drying temperature that can actually be used for a high-heat resistance printing material, resulting in slower drying for the high-heat resistance printing material. On the other hand, in the case where the printing material used in the printing apparatus has a high heat resistance and the temperature of the drying unit has been controlled to a set temperature based on that printing material, a low-heat resistance printing material may be damaged by the heat.
The stated problems are not limited to techniques for drying ink applied to a printing material, and can arise in any technique for drying a medium to which a liquid has been applied.